Bugging Out

Methodically devouring their greens, two larval sawflies demolish a Quaking Aspen/Populus tremuloides leaf. I’m not sure which species these are; they seem to be the second sawfly species I’ve seen feasting on these aspens.

The other species eats a half moon from the leaf and then takes shelter in a turned over edge of leaf. Sawflies are the least known member of the order Hymenoptera, along with wasps, ants, and bees. Sometimes they’re called primitive wasps, which would, I suppose, make the bees and ants advanced wasps….

Bees, like ants, evolved from the wasps. In essence, they are wasps: only hairy, vegetarian wasps. (Adult wasps are also vegetarian, with a few exceptions, but their larvae are carnivorous.)

Shagbark Hickory/Carya ovata leaflets absolutely festooned with galls. These are caused by Phylloxera aphids, tiny genetic engineers who hijack the plant for their own uses (shelter, food), forcing the leaf to grow these forms. (Galls on oaks, on the other hand, are usually created by tiny wasps.)

It’s been a cold spring and insect activity has been subdued, but tomorrow promises temps in the mid 70s, which bodes well for my next Bugging Out walk in Green-Wood. It starts at 10:30 in the morning and as of this writing there are still tickets available.